Tufted perennial 3–7 dm, glabrous to scabrous or hairy; lvs flat, 1–5(–7) mm wide, lacking auricles; spikes 2–5(–8) cm (excl. awns), erect, often becoming brownish-purple; central spikelet sessile, the lateral on curved pedicels 0.7–1 mm, their florets much reduced, rarely staminate; glumes awn-like 0.7–2 cm; fertile lemma 6.5–8 mm, faintly 5-veined, tapering into an awn 0.5–1(–2) cm; anthers 1–1.8 mm; 2n=28. Meadows, bottomlands, and salt-marshes; Alas. to Calif., e. to Mont. and N.M., and intr. here and there in our range. Often confused with the European H. nodosum L., with longer awns, longer anthers, and well developed auricles.
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